with Jon Dawson

Monthly Archives: April 2015

Tax policy influences and incentivizes financial decisions. The fact that the purchase of a home gives something back to the purchaser in the form of deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes is a powerful incentive and makes home ownership an attractive investment. Take that incentive away and what makes an apartment dweller decide to take the plunge into homeownership? Home ownership is the backbone of the economy, a driving force for jobs, strong communities, stable neighborhoods, and families.

An estimated 53% of homeowners with a mortgage claimed the mortgage interest deduction in 2013. 72% of Mainers own their homes, and 75% of those, at some point have used the itemized state mortgage interest and property tax deductions.

Did you know that for every two homes sold in Maine, the equivalent of one full time job is created and roughly $25,600 is generated to help grow Maine’s economy?

Please help preserve the mortgage interest and property tax deductions for Maine. Don’t make tax policy changes that negatively impact home ownership and second home ownership in Maine.

Did you know that for every two homes sold in Maine, the equivalent of one full time job is created and roughly $25,600 is generated to help grow Maine’s economy?
Tax policy influences and incentivizes financial decisions. The fact that the purchase of a home gives something back to the purchaser in the form of deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes is a powerful incentive and makes home ownership an attractive investment. Take that incentive away and what makes an apartment dweller decide to take the plunge into homeownership? Home ownership is the backbone of the economy, a driving force for jobs, strong communities, stable neighborhoods, and families.
An estimated 53% of homeowners with a mortgage claimed the mortgage interest deduction in 2013. 72% of Mainers own their homes, and 75% of those, at some point have used the itemized state mortgage interest and property tax deductions.
Please help preserve the mortgage interest and property tax deductions for Maine. Don’t make tax policy changes that negatively impact home ownership and second home ownership in Maine.

The real estate industry is expected to strengthen this year and continue to get stronger through 2017, according to a new report released from the Urban Land Institute. If this prediction is correct there will be strong economic rewards for home ownership.

The report found that the residential, single-family housing sector remains in recovery mode and economists predict that housing starts will rise from 647,000 in 2014 to 700,000 in 2015; to 815,000 in 2016; and 900,000 by the end of 2017.

Economists predict that existing home prices will rise through 2017 — rising 5 percent this year; another 4 percent in 2016; and by 4 percent in 2017.

“In summary, almost all U.S. real estate participants would be very pleased if the future unfolded as predicted by the ULI consensus forecast,” says Urban Land Institute leader William Maher, director of North American strategy for LaSalle Investment Management in Baltimore. “The forecast represents almost the perfect combination of strong economic and property market fundamentals, combined with an orderly wind-down of monetary stimulus.”

Fannie Mae’s Chief Economist Doug Duncan said in a recent report, “We continue to expect the economy to drag housing upward as we move into the second quarter. The economy is getting a boost from the strong employment numbers we’ve seen last year and at the start of 2015. When this employment growth partners with income growth and consumers experience a rise in their personal household income, we should see a similar boost in the housing sector,” Overall, we expect an improving 2015 with continued economic growth bringing housing above 2014 levels.”

The National Association of Realtors, in their Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report that the greatest environmental concern for all home buyers of all ages is heating and cooling costs.

When purchasing a newly built home 9% of buyers cited overall energy efficiency as an important reason for their purchase of a newly constructed home.

The home’s environmentally friendly features described as very important or somewhat important vary depending on the ages of recent homebuyers. Generation Y homebuyers, (34 and younger) greatest environmental concern is the cost of commuting to their jobs. Their second most important concern was the cost of heating and cooling.

Other noted concerns among all generations of homebuyers were energy efficient appliances, environmentally friendly features of the community, energy efficient lighting and landscaping for energy conservation.